Riding the rails is more than a way to get from A to B—it’s a front-row ticket to landscapes you’d struggle to fit in any postcard. From Alpine summits cut in the 1930s to desert plains crossed by explorers a century earlier, these routes prove the view outside can outshine every onboard perk. Each journey below earned its place for the sheer scale of scenery framed by extra-wide windows, dome cars, or open-air vestibules.
Strap in for ice-blue glaciers, vermillion canyons, and emerald fjords, all narrated by steel tracks laid between 1890 and 2010. Your seat assignment may have a number, but the real VIP section is pressed against the glass. Here are the 11 Train Journeys Where the Window Is the Best Seat
Glacier Express — St. Moritz to Zermatt, Switzerland
Launched in 1930, the Glacier Express links two iconic ski towns via 291 bridges, 91 tunnels, and the 2,033-meter Oberalp Pass. Panoramic coaches wrap the Rhône headwaters, so the Matterhorn seems close enough to tap on the glass. Because the narrow-gauge line moves at just 38 km/h, you have seven leisurely hours to watch chalets fade into glacier fields. Mid-journey, listen for the conductor’s tale of how engineers braved avalanches to finish the Furka Tunnel in 1926. By the time you spiral down to Zermatt’s car-free streets, you’ll swear the Alps invented every shade of white.
Rocky Mountaineer — Vancouver to Banff, Canada
Although this luxury service debuted in 1990, its rails trace the Canadian Pacific main line finished in 1885 to unite the young Dominion. Bi-level glass-dome coaches climb from coastal rainforest into British Columbia’s Fraser Canyon, where bald eagles shadow the train. Crossing Craigellachie—the site of the Last Spike hammered on 7 November 1885—your host raises a toast to the nation-building feat. By day two the train skirts turquoise Lake Louise, and peaks of Banff National Park fill every frame. Few trips make it so easy to compare sea-spray driftwood with 3,000-meter limestone in 48 hours.
Trans-Siberian Railway — Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia
Started under Tsar Alexander III in 1891 and completed in 1916, this 9,289-kilometer titan spans eight time zones. From your window you’ll watch onion-domed towns give way to birch forests, then to the glass-flat surface of Lake Baikal—holding a fifth of Earth’s fresh water. Conductors still note Kilometer 5,777, where workers from opposite ends drove the final ceremonial spike on 14 July 1900. Nights bring star fields unpolluted by city glow, while samovars in each car keep tea flowing through sub-zero dawns. It’s six days where the scenery is equal parts geography lesson and history textbook.
The Ghan — Adelaide to Darwin, Australia
Named after Afghan cameleers who blazed inland paths in the 19th century, The Ghan first ran in 1929; the full north-south line reached Darwin only in 2004. Wide-angle Gold Service cabins reveal red ochre rolling past Coober Pedy’s opal mines before sunrise bruises the Outback sky. A midday stop at Alice Springs lets you stand on the same ground visited by explorer John McDouall Stuart in 1860. Re-boarding, you’ll cross the Katherine River gorge carved over 23 million years, spotting freshwater crocs from the comfort of air-conditioned glass. Few trips paint such a slow-motion fresco from vineyards to Top End tropics.
Bernina Express — Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy
Since 1910 the Bernina Line has climbed corkscrew curves to the 2,253-meter Ospizio Bernina without rack-and-pinion help, a UNESCO-listed civil-engineering marvel. Open-air cars in summer let you photograph the Morteratsch Glacier without reflections, while winter coats Lago Bianco in mirror-smooth ice. As you descend the 180-degree Brusio Spiral Viaduct, vineyards appear almost within arm’s reach. Crossing into Tirano you’ll smell espresso before the train even halts at the 1930s stucco station. Two countries, four climate zones, and 55 tunnels flash by in just four hours.
West Highland Line — Glasgow to Mallaig, Scotland
Opened in stages between 1894 and 1901, this single-track legend steams across Rannoch Moor, an ancient peatland untouched by roads. Wide windows capture Ben Nevis—Britain’s highest peak—looming like a stone sentinel. At Glenfinnan Viaduct, built 1897, fans lean out for the same arched shot made famous in the Harry Potter films. The silver ribbon of Loch Shiel soon slides past, its waters said to hide a kilted kelpie in local lore. By journey’s end, salty breezes from the Isle of Skye greet you as gulls orbit the tiny fishing port of Mallaig.
Flåm Railway — Myrdal to Flåm, Norway
Completed in 1940 after 20 years of tunneling, Flåmsbana drops 867 meters in just 20 kilometers—one of the world’s steepest standard-gauge lines. Oversize side windows frame the Kjosfossen waterfall, where summer mist sometimes reveals dancers reenacting Huldra forest spirits. Engineers built 18 of the 20 tunnels by hand, turning raw fjord rock into corkscrew passages that flip scenery like pages in a pop-up book. Minutes later the Aurlandsfjord appears, glassy as polished chrome and 200 meters deep. The train rolls into Flåm’s wooden station almost too soon, leaving passengers debating whether to hike back up for a second descent.
TranzAlpine — Christchurch to Greymouth, New Zealand
Introduced in 1987, the TranzAlpine tackles the Southern Alps via the 8.5-kilometer Otira Tunnel, once the Commonwealth’s longest. Open-air observation cars serve snow-dusted peaks on one side, river gorges carpeted in beech forest on the other. Guides recount surveyor Arthur Dudley Dobson’s first pass crossing in 1864, a tale that feels heroic even from padded seats. After rolling through Arthur’s Pass National Park, the train skirts Lake Brunner, mirror-reflecting clouds that look hand-painted. Arrival in Greymouth is timed for late-afternoon sun, so the Tasman Sea gleams like liquid pewter.
California Zephyr — Chicago to the San Francisco Bay, USA
First christened in 1949, today’s Amtrak version dates to 1983 and still claims America’s longest single-operator route at 3,924 kilometers. Sightseer lounge cars sport floor-to-ceiling glass so you can trace the Mississippi at dawn and the Rockies by lunch. Crossing the Continental Divide through 10,550-foot Moffat Tunnel (opened 1928) feels like slipping between epochs. Later, ruby mesas flank the train in Utah’s Ruby Canyon, their layers recording 200 million years of geologic drama. A sunset roll along the Sierra Nevada delivers the big finale before car lights twinkle on across the East Bay.
The Blue Train — Pretoria to Cape Town, South Africa
Luxury sleeper service has run under the “Blue Train” banner since 1946, though royal-blue coaches date back to 1923’s Union Limited. Picture windows reveal the arid Karoo, once an inland sea, now dotted with wind-pumps and springbok herds. In Kimberley, the train slows beside the Big Hole diamond mine, dug by hand beginning in 1871—history glittering with equal parts triumph and toil. As the line curves into wine-green valleys outside Paarl, sommeliers onboard pour pinotage made from vines you can almost touch. Table Mountain rises ahead like a herald announcing your Cape Town arrival.
Maharajas’ Express — The Indian Panorama, India
Rolling since 2010 yet styled after royal saloons of the 19th-century Raj, the Maharajas’ Express covers 2,300 kilometers from Delhi to Mumbai in a week. Oversized picture windows in crimson-trimmed cabins showcase dawn at the Taj Mahal, its marble glowing peach on day two. By day four the train glides into the Thar Desert, and camel caravans parallel the track like mirages with hooves. Guides recount how the Marwar-Pali rail link first reached Jodhpur in 1885, stitching princely states into British India. Evenings end with Rajasthani folk dancers performing beneath station lamps, proof the best shows can happen off-train yet within arm’s reach.
